Current Broadband is available only in the Cincinnati area. But the company says that roughly 1.5 million Cinergy customers in Ohio, Indiana, and Kentucky can later choose among three options: a 1-megabit-per-second connection for $30 per month, 2 mbps for $35, and 3 mbps for $40. Cable and DSL services cost $30 to $50 for speeds usually well below 1.5 mbps.
I tried out BPL at a house in Maryland where Current piloted the service. Once a power company installs BPL equipment on electrical boxes or poles, customers simply plug their power-line modem into any electrical outlet (Current provides the first modem for free). The modem connects to your PC via USB, ethernet, or sometimes Wi-Fi. In the controlled environment of the pilot site, the BPL connection was fast, but real-world performance may vary.
Current's BPL service includes five e-mail addresses, 15MB of e-mail storage, and a personal Web site. It offers the same high-speed connection both up- and downstream. Cable and DSL services typically limit upload speeds to a fraction of download speed.
BPL service makes sense for people who don't already have broadband or who want two-way speeds and slightly lower prices. But it may take years for BPL to reach most people--if it ever reaches them at all.
Another hurdle: BPL may interfere with radio signals. The Federal Communications Commission is considering rules to forestall such problems, but those rules won't be finalized for months.